From viewpoints of easiness of installation, low cost, and easiness of operation, demand for radio communication has been increased. In the industrial field, expectation for the radio communication is high that solves problems in cost and cable installation man-hours due to conventional wired LAN connection, and includes mobility and ease in handling as well.
Especially in recent years, not only achieving power related business such as the next-generation power transmission and distribution automation (smart grid), Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), energy management system (xEMS) by the radio communication, but also the multiple radio network integration system has been discussed capable of operating those multiple business applications in one integrated radio network. In IEEE 802.24 TAG (Technical Advisory Group) and the like, application has begun to be discussed for a smart grid of IEEE 802 system communication standard since July 2012. Besides, as a trend of the entire of IEEE 802, standard formulation has been performed by dividing for each communication specification of each application until now; from now on, it is focused on study for more practical use such as mutual use of multiple networks, combination of multiple communications, and network resource effective utilization.
In the power distribution automation field, for voltage fluctuation in a power transmission and distribution network, local control with a power transmission and distribution control device has been conventionally used, such as SVR or SVC installed on a utility pole and the like; however, in the next-generation power transmission and distribution network, it is transitioning to the centralized control type in which a control instruction is distributed to a power transmission and distribution device from a host system such as a server that acquires voltage and current values from sensors installed in various places of the power transmission and distribution network, and optimal control of system voltage is achieved. Further, in more advanced generation, the distributed control type has been studied in which stabilization of an entire system is achieved based on communication by a so-called P2P (Peer to Peer) communication network in which each power transmission and distribution control device independently collects voltage and current information from sensors or communicates control information and the like to another power transmission and distribution control device. On the other hand, conventionally in the AMI field, study has been made mainly for a data collection method from a smart meter under one concentrator, that is, a local AMI network of the centralized control type. However, in study for a method of transmitting data of the smart meter collected in the concentrator to a management server (of a power company and the like), that is, an AMI backbone network, discussion is continuing of common use with a power distribution automation network, communication medium/method, and the like.